Bird flu cases 'on the up'

23/01/2014

The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported an increasing number of cases of the H7N9 (bird flu) virus in China.

Since the disease broke out among chickens and ducks in March 2013, it has gone on to affect hundreds of people, with 126 cases and 24 deaths reported in the following month. There have been 73 cases recorded this month alone.

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Gregory Hartl, a spokesman for WHO, told the BBC: "Our calculation was always that we were going to have to watch the winter. We need to remain vigilant, but so far the virus does not seem to have mutated in any way."

Cases of bird flu died down over the summer months, but the virus may be more likely to spread during the upcoming Chinese New Year celebrations when crowds of people will be travelling around the country.

Despite this, experts have reassured people that the virus is not likely to spread further across the world any time soon.

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